City Council OK’s ‘snap’ curfew ordinance; Mayor Johnson intends to veto

CHICAGO (WGN) — Mayor Brandon Johnson intends to use his veto power to strike down a controversial “snap” curfew ordinance that was approved by the City Council on Wednesday.

The Council needed 34 votes to make the ordinance, intended to control “teen takeovers” and give Chicago police officers another option for handling unaccompanied minors, veto-proof. The vote was 27-22, so the mayor can still veto the “snap” curfew ordinance.

During his post-Council news conference Wednesday, Johnson said he’ll do just that.

“I will veto this ordinance, because it is counterproductive to the progress that we have made in reducing crime and violence in our city,” he said.

“… If our goal is to reduce crime, then we must look toward tactics that actually work. This proposal could certainly expose the city to more costly lawsuits and settlements. That would not make our city safer.”

The last time a Chicago mayor issued a veto was in 2006, when Richard M. Daley vetoed a measure that would’ve required big-box retailers to pay employees $10 per hour.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) has been the driving force behind the “snap” curfew measure, which required more than a year of lobbying and compromising to get a full Council vote.

WGN News reached out to Hopkins on Thursday morning to ask if he thinks he can get to the 34 votes necessary to make the proposed ordinance veto-proof. He said supporting alders will try, with next month being the earliest the measure could come back for a Council vote.

Curbing ‘teen takeovers’

The “snap” curfew ordinance allows police to implement a “snap” curfew with just a 30-minute notice if a group of 20 or more teens poses a threat to the public. If a minor violates the proposed ordinance, they would be taken into custody until a parent or legal guardian can pick them up.

WGN Investigates: Is a summer of ‘street takeovers’ ahead for Chicago?

A final version of the ordinance passed the city’s Public Safety Committee by a 10-7 vote last month, sending it to the full City Council. However, the mayor’s allies delayed a vote at that time for unknown reasons.

Two “teen takeovers” in March ended in fights and gunfire in Streeterville, all before the city’s current curfew of 10 p.m. kicked in, which only covers Chicago’s Central Business District. Following those incidents, Hopkins’ efforts seemed to gather momentum toward making a change.

“We’ve seen the video of the events that inspired this ordinance, and no one here is OK with that,” Hopkins said Wednesday. “No one here thinks it’s perfectly acceptable for large groups of teenagers, some as young as 12, to gather anywhere in the city — downtown or anywhere — and get out of control.”

Johnson, however, believes investing in summer jobs for teens would be the better solution, and some alders and community groups have also expressed deep concern that a “snap” curfew ordinance, if implemented, would unfairly impact mostly Black and brown kids.

“I think it’s lazy governance, quite frankly,” Johnson said prior to Wednesday’s vote. “It places too much pressure on law enforcement. I continuously say that we cannot just simply rely upon policing alone. We need people to help my administration do the things that work.

“… When we invest in people, violent crime goes down.”

The mayor’s allies in the progressive caucus also opposed the measure, saying public safety is more important than policing.

“This is something that we’ve been talking about since I was young,” Ald. Angela Clay (46th Ward) said. “People in the City of Chicago still getting access to firearms, but they can’t get access to jobs. The issue that we’re discussing here is a broader conversation that a lot of us are too afraid to have.”

On the other hand, Ald. Monique Scott (24th Ward) on Wednesday said the “snap” curfew ordinance provides a tool for police officers to stop “teen takeovers” before they start and before law enforcement might be forced to use more heavy-handed tactics.

“We’re not saying go get your billy clubs and beat the kids upside the head, or arrest them,” Scott said. “No, we’re giving (police) a tool. They say you can’t corral crowds. But this is a tool, before the crowd starts, that we can shut it down.”

CPD Supt. Larry Snelling, meanwhile, has said he never asked for the power to impose a “snap” curfew. In court testimony last week, Snelling said he would not use “snap” curfew powers.

“The superintendent didn’t ask for it,” Johnson said. “We work hard to prevent these types of gatherings (‘teen takeovers’) from happening. Sometimes gatherings happen without notification.

“It’s not like people wake up every day and put something on social media to say, ‘We’re going to cut up, and we’re going to draw 300 people over here.'”

SEE ALSO: Chicago leaders seek curfew to curb teen ‘street takeovers’

The mayor also said his efforts to provide more summer jobs for teens were rebuffed.

“I had to fight tooth and nail to get 1,000 more positions for the summer jobs,” Johnson said. “… You all know I proposed 30,000. Had to give up 1,000, because people didn’t think that was a worthwhile investment.

“That’s 1,000 less children who will have an opportunity this summer. But you want to give the police the power to be able to issue a curfew as (they) wish, instead of giving the City of Chicago the power to actually invest in people?

“What sense does that make?”

Several local organizations held a press conference outside City Hall on Wednesday morning, demanding alders to reject the “snap” curfew proposal and saying the ordinance wouldn’t help teens.

“I truly understand the urgency to keep our babies safe, but a ‘snap’ curfew is not the solution,” Aisha Kinslow, a CPS social worker, said. “It may seem like a quick fix, but it risks criminalizing our kids for simply being outside. It disproportionately impacts Black and brown youth, many of whom are already navigating trauma, poverty and systemic barriers.

“A curfew does not ask why a child is out late. It simply just punishes them for being there.”

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) said “teen takeovers” are happening in Chicago “because young people have nowhere to be in their own communities.”

“Until we invest in spaces for young people to hang out, to have fun, to participate in productive activity, we have no right to dictate how they socialize in the City of Chicago,” Fuentes said.

But Hopkins on Wednesday said the “teens takeovers” that happened in Streeterville were not just hangouts.

“These are criminal acts,” he said. “These are not innocent hijinks. These are dangerous, threatening criminal acts, and they’re violent.”

Other action taken by the Chicago City Council on Wednesday:

$24 million in police settlements

This includes $14,750,000 to James Gibson, who spent nearly 30 years in prison after he says he was beaten by police Commander Jon Burge into falsely confessing to a 1989 double murder.

Another $7.5 million was OK’d for Bernard Williams, who was convicted in a 1996 shooting but eventually found not guilty during a 2023 retrial.

A little more than $2 million was also approved for William Carter, who spent four years in prison on drug charges tied to Sgt. Ronald Watts.

Wrigley Field security

Under this plan, the Cubs, the city and the state will split a $32 million bill to pay for what they’re calling anti-terrorism security enhancements around Wrigley Field and Gallagher Way.

According to a report last month by The Score’s Bruce Levine, the Cubs and Wrigley Field are expected to be named the host of the 2027 MLB All-Star Game.

Pilsen’s St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church gains landmark status

Following a Tuesday evening compromise, the council’s Zoning Committee unanimously gave its approval to a plan to give landmark status to St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church. The full City Council followed suit Wednesday.

The next full City Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16.